Venezuela
''Survivor: Venezuela ''was the ninty-seventh season of Survivor. The season ended when Alex won the title of Sole Survivor, beating Graame in a 7-2 jury vote at the Final Tribal Council. The season featured 18 new contestants dubbed as "castaways" marooned on two separate beaches in Venezuela. They were divided into two tribes: Bolivar in blue and Cojedes in yellow. The tribes are named after states of Venezuela. On Day 19, the tribes merged into the red Caracas tribe, named for the capital of Venezuela. The main twist this season was the Equals Twist. Each player was matched with another player in the game. Though this was never explicity stated, every Equal pair consisted of one man and one woman from the original opposing tribe. These Equals pairs were private knowledge and served as a sort of automatic alliance. If one Equal pair made it to the Final Two together, each Equal would receive $250,000 in addition to their winnings. Another twist was that if both Equals found a Hidden Immunity Idol, they could be combined to save a player from elimination after the votes had been cast and read. Despite this twist, no Equal pair made it further than Day 32 and no pair found two idols. A major event happened in episode 13; a tied vote deadlocked but instead of a traditional rock draw, players were able to reach a consensus on who to vote out. This is the first such consensus, and Andrew was sent to the jury. It is also the first instance in which a deadlocked vote resulted from two people switching their votes, as in every other case the votes had remained the same. Andrew is henceforth the only person to get voted out via consensus. Outcast Island returned for the second consecutive season. Producers debated bringing Outcast Island to the merge period as well for the first time since ''Atoll ''but ultimately decided to instead return One Day Tribes. Due to the unpopularity of the returnee this season and the little effect it had on the game, producers axed Outcast Island for the following season. The reception to this season was mixed. The pre-merge period was slow and lacking blindsides, underwhelmed by Outcast Island's presence. Furthermore, the Equals twist had little to no effect on the game, as so many Equals lost their pairs early. The multiple tribe shuffles added mostly to confusion instead of new layers of strategy. The One-Day Tribes were also underwhelmed by idols being played in both Tribals. Critics hailed some of the gameplay of the post-merge period, especially Cam and Morgan's secret alliance and Kyle's "individual game" strategy. EW commented, "Ultimately, the winner was a bit of a letdown and the whole season seemed to crescendo to...that awesome consensus vote...but after that we just kind of sailed to the Final 2 and watched Kyle lose when he definitely should have won." Viewers also criticized the personalities of several of the players, especially Cody, Andrew, Arielle, and Lucy, who seemed to be more of bad people than classic Survivor villains. SUG stated, "The Equals twist did not live up to expectations but it was certainly an interesting concept." Contestants The Game Voting History Jury Vote Outcast Island Category:Seasons Category:Outcast Island Category:Final 2 Category:Equals Twist